The filibuster being changed is now dead in the water.
On Wednesday, as part of the filibuster debate, Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) called out his fellow Democrats on the Senate floor.
Manchin excoriated them by telling them that breaking the filibuster was the easy way out.
Work Together
Passing legislation with a simple majority rule, especially in a Congress that is so evenly, split, would be an absolute disaster.
Think about it… Democrats have a single-digit lead collectively in Congress.
The point is that, especially at this time, all legislation should be bipartisan.
If you get the numbers, you can pass whatever you want, but that is clearly not the case right now in a divided country and Congress.
Manchin, in defending the filibuster, stated, “For the last year, my Democratic colleagues have taken to the Senate floor, cable news airwaves, pages of newspapers across the country to argue that repealing the filibuster is actually restoring the Senate to the vision of the Founding Fathers intended for this deliberative body.
“My friends, that is simply not true.
“It’s just not true. The United States Senate has never, in 233 years, been able to end debate on legislation with a simple majority vote.”
He continued, “[You] didn’t break the rules to do that. You didn’t. You worked it out, which is the leadership’s responsibility.
“Allowing one party to exert complete control in the Senate with only a simple majority will only pour fuel on the fire of political whiplash and dysfunction that is tearing this nation apart, and you don’t have to look very far to see how we’re tearing ourselves apart.”
Manchin concluded, “Eliminating the filibuster would be the easy way out.
“I cannot support such a perilous course for this nation when elected leaders are sent to Washington to unite our country, not to divide our country.
“We’re called the United States, not the divided states and putting politics and party aside is what we’re supposed to do.”
I call Senator Manchin out quite a bit for breaking his word, but I have to give him props here.
I always felt he would hold firm on this issue, and he has done so.
What do you think of the filibuster challenge failing in the Senate?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Source: New York Post
